Apparatus for separating cutlery from food scraps

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for separating cutlery from food waste, such as for use in a restaurant, includes a glacis which is angled toward the opening of a waste container. Extending from an end of the glacis are a set of flaps having a closed position whereby they guide the food waste into the waste container, and having an open position whereby they separate and expose a receptacle for receiving cutlery. A detector is disposed relative to the glacis for detecting a cutlery item inadvertently mixed with the food waste on the glacis. If a cutlery item is sensed by the detector, the flaps are caused to open and the cutlery item falls into the cutlery receptacle, thereby the cutlery is separated from the food waste.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an apparatus for separating cutleryfrom restaurant waste, the apparatus including a glacis collecting thewaste which slides on it together with any cutlery in a directiontowards the opening of a waste container, which is supported by a stand,implemented such that the glacis is preferably positionally adjustableat the container, there being at least two flaps, movable between endpositions such as to enable separation of cutlery and the prevention ofthese items from coming into the container, as well as at least onedetector arranged at the glacis before the flaps in the slidingdirection of the waste, for sending a signal when an item of cutlerypasses over it, the signal controlling a drive means for causingmovement of the flaps between their end positions.

An apparatus for separating cutlery from restaurant waste is alreadyknown, where the waste containing cutlery is accumulated in a specialhopper, before the waste is fed further downwards into a wastecontainer, the operator scraping off the waste from plates and the likehaving to put his hand into the waste to retrieve the cutlery thustrapped. This is, of course, not regarded favorably by persons cleaningoff the dishes before they are washed. In many cases it has thereforebeen found that cutlery retrieval has been neglected, these items beinglost in spite of the measures taken. From studies made in restaurantkitchens in hotels it has been found that not just one or two items, butlarge amounts of cutlery are lost in this way, particularly when therestaurant has many customers and the waiters are flurried, cutlerybeing tipped together with waste into the waste container, althoughspecial arrangements have been made to catch or arrest and search thewaste, which could contain cutlery, since it is always unpleasant forpersonnel to retrieve the cutlery, particularly in rush-hour conditions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus of thekind mentioned in the introduction for separating cutlery from waste,werewith the problems mentioned above are eliminated. The distinguishingfeatures of the invention are disclosed in the accompanying claims.

As a result of the present invention there has now been achieved anapparatus, with the aid of which cutlery unintentionally tipped awaywith waste from a plate or the like can be readily dealt with. Thecutlery which has been separated from the waste and retrieved is namelycollected in a separate cutlery collection receptacle, suitably formedwith interstices, through which any food residue adhering to the cutlerymay be flushed away. The cutlery can then be put in the restaurant dishwasher in the usual way.

The invention is described in more detail hereinafter, with the aid ofsome embodiment examples and with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, where

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic, perspective view of a first embodiment of anapparatus in accordance with the present invention for separatingcutlery from restaurant waste,

FIG. 2 is a schematic view from above of the apparatus illustrated inFIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a schematic, perspective view of a second embodiment of theapparatus in accordance with the invention, where cutlery is sorted outwith the aid of two flaps, which are movable between end positions, andare pivotably mounted on hinges over a cutlery collection receptacle,these flaps being shown in their closed positions,

FIG. 4 is a schematic, perspective view of the apparatus illustrated inFIG. 3, but more in side view, and where the flaps are in their parted,open positions and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a part of the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 4and 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a first, preferred embodiment of theinventive apparatus includes a stand 1, there being a glacis 2 arrangedat its upper end. The glacis 2 is adjustable for obtaining a suitableincline, and is made from stainless steel or plastics with a smoothupper side, thus enabling the waste 17, that has been scraped off platesand the like, such as to fall onto the glacis, to slide with practicallyno friction down into a waste container 3, also attached to the stand 1.The container 3 has its opening 4 situated below the end 5 of the glacis2. In addition, the apparatus includes, in this embodiment of theinvention, two flaps 6, 6' which can be swung between two end positionsin directions towards, and away from each other. In their first closedpositions, their opposing end edges 19, 19' meet along an axis 20 ofsymmetry in the longitudinal direction of the glacis 2. From this axisthe flaps 6, 6' may be swung outwards and into their second, open, endpositions. The flaps 6, 6' have their hinges at, or immediately underthe end 5 of the glacis 2, so that in their first end positions, withtheir end edges 19, 19' juxtaposed, they form a continuation of theglacis 2, and in their second end positions, when the flaps 6, 6' aremutually spaced, they no longer form part of the glacis 2, which is thenshorter. The flaps 6, 6' take up their second end positions when acutlery item 7 present in the waste 17 that is emptied on to the glacis2 and is sensed by at least one detector 8 placed under the glacisbefore its free end 5. The cutlery item 7 is then discharged from theglacis 2, past the open flaps, directly down into a separate cutlerycollection receptacle 9. In this example, the receptacle 9 is arrangedinside the waste container 3 and under the flaps 6, 6'. The cutleryreceptacle 9 is suitably implemented as a waste basket made fromstainless steel or a suitable plastics material, so that any foodresidue may be easily flushed away before the collected cutlery is takenout. Alternatively, the flaps 6, 6' may be open in their first, ornormal positions. In this case the waste 17 is then emptied directlyfrom the glacis 2 down into the waste container 3. In their second,closed positions, the flaps 6, 6' in this case form a continuation ofthe glacis 2, for enabling discharge of one or more cutlery items,sensed by the detector, into the receptacle 9, which is here suitablyarranged in the container 3 for receiving them, and is illustrated bydashed lines in FIG. 2.

The detector 8, which may be placed under the glacis 2, before its freeend 5, is of a conventional type for detecting both magnetic andnon-magnetic items, and thereby capable of detecting the passage ofcutlery items 7 made from stainless steel, aluminium or alpacka. Incertain cases, however, it can be calibrated so that such as so-calledsilver paper, bottle caps etc passing over it do not activate the signalit sends to a drive means 10, which may be of a kind such as thelow-voltage motor used for driving windscreen wipers in cars, this motoractuating the mutually relative movement of the flaps 6, 6'.

The glacis 2, extending in a direction towards and somewhat above thewaste container opening 4, forms a plane, which can be adjusted to asuitable inclination, and tapers, as seen from above, in a directiontowards its free end 5. It is also provided with edge portions 11 forguiding waste 17 towards the end 5, from whence the waste is dischargedpast the flaps 6, 6' into the waste container 3.

In accordance with the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, theflaps 6, 6' are each fastened to its respective arm 12, 13, which has anarcuate extension about the detector 8. The arms 12, 13, and thus theflaps 6, 6', are pivotable about journalling pins 14, 15 under theglacis 2, and they coact synchronously via meshing teeth 16. When acutlery item 7 is sensed in the waste 17 emptied on to the glacis 2, thedetector 8 sends a signal to the drive means 10, which is connected byan unillustrated coupling to one arm 12 via the pin 14, for turning thearms 12, 13 and their associated flaps 6, 6' to a second, open endposition. The open position of the flaps 6, 6' and their associated arms12, 13 is maintained by a timing clock (not illustrated on the drawing)for a selectable time period sufficient for the cutlery item 7 to bedischarged into the cutlery collection receptacle 9, before the flaps 6,6' return to their normal position. The flap reversing movement may beachieved either by an unillustrated return spring or by reversing themovement of the drive means 10. When the flaps are in their first,normal or closed positions, the waste 17 is discharged down into thewaste container 3 after sliding along the upper surfaces of the flaps 6.

In FIGS. 3-5 there is illustrated a second embodiment of an apparatus inaccordance with the invention. Here, the glacis 2 is provided, startingimmediately under its free end 5 and extending in the direction of wastemovement, with two flaps 6, 6' mounted on hinges 26 for being swung to,and from each other between two end positions. The function of the arms12, 13 guiding the flaps 6, 6' is the same as for the embodiment in theprevious description, and thus this function does not need to bedescribed again. In their normal positions the flaps 6, 6' form slidingsurfaces having the form of an inverted V in cross section. The flaps 6,6' have an elongate, rectangular shape, and along one long edge 21, 21'each is fastened to a hinge 26. The cutlery collection receptacle 9 isremovably arranged centrally in the waste container 3, to extend rightacross it, such as to be easily lifted up when it is full of cutlery 7.At their short ends 23, 23' facing towards the arms 12, 13 the flaps 6,6' have guide pins 24, 24' for connectable coaction with a grippingmeans 25, 25' on the respective arm 12, 13.

In their normal positions the flaps 6, 6' are in their closed positionswith their long edges 19, 19' juxtaposed, and thus constitute acontinuation of the web 2 for discharging waste down into the wastecontainer without the waste coming into the cutlery collectionreceptacle 9. When a cutlery item 7 is sensed by one or more detectors8, the flaps 6, 6' swing upwards and outwards to form a hopper-likeopening 22 for catching and guiding the item(s) of cutlery down into thereceptacle 9. As soon as the cutlery has fallen into the receptacle theflaps 6, 6' rapidly return to their starting or normal positions. Avariant of this embodiment would be to have the flaps 6, 6' open intheir first, normal positions and the waste container 3 situated in theposition taken up by the receptacle 9 according to the drawings, thewaste 17 then being collected via the hopper-like opening 22. Here, whena cutlery item 7 is sensed by one or more detectors 9 the flaps 6, 6'swing together into their closed positions and the cutlery is dischargeddown into the receptacle 9, which in this case is implemented such thatit is situated outside the waste container 3, which is now smaller andcentrally placed under the flaps 6, 6'.

As will be seen from the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 theglacis 2 comprises two separate parts, namely an upper part 27 and alower part 28 connected after it. These parts are removable and can bepositionally fixed relative each other to facilitate cleaning them.

Although the present invention has been described in relation toparticular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modificationsand other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It ispreferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by thespecific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. Apparatus for separating cutlery from restaurant waste, theapparatus comprising:a glacis for collecting the waste and causing ittogether with any cutlery to move in a direction towards an opening of awaste container which is supported by a stand and adapted so that theglacis is positionally adjustable at the opening of the waste container,at least two flaps fastened at, or immediately below an end of theglacis and extending towards the opening of the waste container, theflaps movable between a closed and open position, at least one detectorpositioned at the glacis to detect cutlery thereon and adapted to send asignal when an item of cutlery passes by the detector, drive meansconnected to the flaps and adapted to receive the signal from thedetector for causing movement of the flaps between the closed and openedpositions such that when no signal is detected, the flaps are in theclosed position functioning as an extension of the glacis to dischargewaste into the waste container, and when a signal is detected the flapsare moved apart in the open position for permitting the detected cutleryitems to fall between the opened flaps into a cutlery collectionreceptacle, thereby the waste is separated from the cutlery, the glacisformed by both flaps for the discharge of waste has a cross section inthe form of an inverted V, in their closed positions the flaps coveringthe opening of the cutlery collection receptacle, and being pivotablyfixed along their long edges at the opening.
 2. Apparatus as claimed inclaim 1, wherein each flap has an elongate rectangular shape, the flapsbeing pivotable from their closed positions to their open positionswhere the flaps form a hopper-like opening above the cutlery collectionreceptacle for catching and guiding cutlery items into the cutlerycollection receptacle.
 3. Apparatus for separating cutlery fromrestaurant waste, the apparatus comprising:a glacis for collecting thewaste and causing it together with any cutlery to move in a directiontowards an opening of a waste container which is supported by a standand adapted so that the glacis is positionally adjustable at the openingof the waste container, at least two flaps fastened at, or immediatelybelow an end of the glacis and extending towards the opening of thewaste container, the flaps movable between a closed and open position,at least one detector positioned at the glacis to detect cutlery thereonand adapted to send a signal when an item of cutlery passes by thedetector, drive means connected to the flaps and adapted to receive thesignal from the detector for causing movement of the flaps betweenclosed and opened positions such that when no signal is detected, theflaps are in the closed position functioning as an extension of theglacis to discharge waste into the waste container, and when a signal isdetected the flaps are moved apart in the open position for permittingthe detected cutlery items to fall between the opened flaps into acutlery collection receptacle, thereby the waste is separated from thecutlery, the cutlery collection receptacle is removably arrangedcentrally in the waste container and extends across its opening, each ofthe flaps having at one of a shorter side thereof a guide pin forconnectable coaction with a gripping means, and the gripping means beingconnected to a pivotable arm.